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Barbershop Harmony Society - Chorus Directors College 2005 What can I say about Director’s College in the states? Absolutely brilliant! That pretty much sums up the entire week and I could stop right there, because one can not possibly attempt to contain the entire week in a few sentences. The only thing that would make it even better is if they hold their Harmony College and Director’s College separately so I can attend both! In general, the week was very tiring (especially if you needed a transatlantic flight to get there!). The day generally starts at quarter to nine with a general session and ends at ten, although there were some days when the day was shorter because of shows and the mid-week bash. General sessions are not to be missed. It involves warm-ups, sometimes craft or a tag, and lots of singing, interrupted at eighteen-past and half-past the hour by a faulty fire alarm bell which would ding once and fall silent. Music for the general sessions is only given to us upon arrival to the college so the level of the sight-readers there are just really, something to be amazed at. Of course, we had to sing the star spangled banner, God bless the USA and other patriotic songs, so I very much sympathise with Bill Rashleigh holding up this little American flag during our rendition of ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ at HC in the UK =P. (I promised myself that I would not do it, but I just HAD to put a smiley there.) I was placed in Directing Techniques II, Sound Management I (that’s vocal coaching to you and I), Theory IV, as well as the obligatory Leadership and Performance streams. Although all streams were enlightening, I felt that I gained the most tools from the DTII and SMI courses. I learnt first and foremost, just how useful and powerful the beat patterns were and how sometimes the large waving, free gestures that we see on stage are detrimental to the sound being produced, it just goes to show that less really is more! Another comment that was raised, which I will mention because I am sure that this is a common phenomenon, was that I was too musical and sometimes too involved with the music and close my eyes, hence shutting the chorus out. The sound produced does not necessarily drop, but the sound that is produced when you use to eyes as well as the body to communicate your intent to the chorus is just somehow… different. As for people with small eyes and who squint when they smile like me, we have to be very careful that when we smile, we also raise our eyebrows, which helps with the squinting as well as providing a good model for our singers to follow – two birds with one stone! As for the other streams, they were very much interactive and one struggles to find words to describe them. So I would not attempt to do so, but encourage you all to go and experience it for yourself. As a final note, my personal highlights of the week were that coach ride to the airport. Someone had started singing during the ride and naturally, people were joining in, mostly woodsheding. But as we neared the airport the tune that we ended on, was the very appropriate ‘from the first hello, to the last goodbye’. Singing continued even after we entered the airport naturally, even though the small group I was with consisted of (I think) six baris and no other parts. After one of our songs, I noticed a member of the airport security approaching us. Just as I thought to myself, that we must be in some trouble now, he said ‘If you want to sing, come over here and sing a little closer to us.’ So once again an experience not to be missed and personally, I could not wait for the next one. Victor Wong |
Several British barbershoppers were at the harmony college/directors college. In the photo, left to right, are Andrew Sentinella (ex-Bromley Kentones), Bill Rashleigh and Joe Liles (society educators), Monica Funnell (Telfordaires Chorus and Indigo Blue quartet), Tony Patman (Spirit of Harmony, Calder Valley) and Victor.
Here are some more photos ...
